'Politicking for the Poor'. Final Report to the U.K. Department for International Development.

Abstract

Senior politicians usually make most of the key decisions about governance, development and poverty reduction in less developed countries. By selecting three politicians (former Chief Minister Digvijay Singh in Madhya Pradesh state, India; former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso in Brazil; and President Yoweri Museveni in Uganda), this study shows that politicians and relatively open political processes in less developed countries can play a role in reducing poverty. This final report outlines the project's background and objectives, methodology, findings, implications for development practitioners, and dissemination of results. Four appendices cover: (1) the analytical methods required to examine each of these three leaders; (2) the common set of hypotheses for all three cases, a detailed discussion of our tests of hypotheses and the results of that exercise; (3) the notion of political will; and (4) an analysis of one of the cases (Madhya Pradesh).